War in Ancient India c7.t1.9

c7.t1.9

The two methods of winning in early chess were the checkmate and the barring of the opponent’s king.⁶ An exact reproduction of these methods is seen in ancient warfare, the prime object of which was the vanquishing of the enemy forces, secured by the capture or death of the opponent or by the devastation of his army. We may also add that a symmetrical arrangement of the different forces and its advantages must have been taken from chess.⁷ It may be asked, in this connexion: Can it not be the other way round, or can it not be mere accidental identity? The answer is simple. This was not possible, as we meet with the term *Caturanga*, a fourfold force, only in epic literature and not in the earlier Vedic literature. And it may be pointed out that the Vedic works are full of references to the game of chess. Therefore it is natural that the principles of chess supplied ideas to the progressive development of the modes and constituents of the army.